East Anglian Jersey Cattle Club
Su’s 2011 Diary:
It is now end of May and no sign of any substantial rain forecast
for several weeks. What a strange year it has been so far,
winter straight to summer and back to spring, the temperatures
have fluctuated from very cold to hot. We were lucky in East
Anglia, although we had severe frosts which caused problems
we didn’t have the snow other parts of the country had
with once again roofs brought down with the weight of the snow.
I hope everyone has managed to make silage and hay, some people
have had better crops than last year, goodness knows how we
will all manage about straw for bedding, at the moment it looks
pretty grim, most of the arable crops, if one can’t irrigate,
are about a foot high or less and if baled will be like chaff.
I dread to think of the cost of bought in feed for this year.
Milk price has gone up a little but we do need a substantial
rise to off set the high costs we are all incurring, diesel,
fertilizer etc.
As Freshways now take our milk we were invited
to see their Dairy set up. So mid January we set off to Acton
West London and I for one was amazed as the Dairy is just off
the High Street!! I think we all wondered what it would be
like, I even said to Ben Watts who took us that he had better
hide anything lying in the car and make sure it was well locked
up! Inside we were welcomed by a member of the staff who was
extremely helpful who answered all our questions, and there
were plenty! He took us round the Dairy, a state of the art
set up and all machinery computerised, they are currently looking
for more milk, they also sell a variety of products not just
milk in its different forms, but different creams, cheeses,
eggs, bread, fruit juices etc. I for one was very impressed
and hoped to be impressed by a rise in the milk price!
We started
the year going for our first committee meeting to Jonathon
and Ann Tomkinson at the beginning of February, did wonder
if we would have to cancel but weather OK! We had a productive
meeting, and over lunch caught up on everyone’s
news and gossip.
It was with great sadness to hear of James
Cross’ mother
Mrs Diana Cross of Elmdon who has died and send our sympathy
to James and his sister Lucy. Diana will be greatly missed,
she had worked with Robin and Anne Corner on the Jersey Pavilion
which so many of us have used and enjoyed meetings and events
held there.
Mrs Sue Leverett invited the club to hold their
AGM at Stanstead Hall on Monday 11th April. Nick Dain our Chairman
was unable to attend as Sandra, his wife had had a very nasty
fall down stairs and had broken both ankles, one very badly
and when Nick phoned me to say he was unable to be at the meetings,
Sandra was on the operating table. All our very best wishes
to Sandra, it will be a long time before she is mobile again,
Nick has been unable to go to lots of events as he is now looking
after Sandra, Glyn Thomas our Vice Chairman very ably took
all the meetings we had a committee meeting followed by the
AGM and after that a very short meeting to elect the Officers
of the Club all meetings were positive, had a delicious lunch
and thank Sue for her hospitality.
Sue presented the clubs
cups as follows:
Ruggles Brise Cup for the highest yielding cow in 305 days
Mr and Mrs Mahon Upgate Mannix Monica 1028 kgs Fat and Protein.
Reserve Mr and Mrs Mahon Upgate Maximus Ropbina 943 kgs Fat
and Protein. Eglington Cup for the highest yielding herd in
305 days. Mr and Mrs Mahon 736 kgs Fat and Protein. Reserve
C R Cawston 690 kgs Fat and Protein. Postlethwaite Cup for
the highest total % Fat and Protein. Rushmer Family 9.41%.
Reserve Mr and Mrs Mahon 9.22%
After the AGM a short committee
meeting was held to elect the Officers of the Club. Chairman
Glyn Thomas, Vice Chairman Nick Dain Treasurer Frank Mahon,
Secretary Su Mahon.
Hurrah! The Jerseys once again have their
own classification at the Suffolk Show after an absence of
ten years, the classes were good and our thanks to all Jersey
breeders who exhibited and made it possible to have once again
our own classes. Our thanks to Robert Hunter from Scotland
for judging the classes. Congratulations to James Strachan
for having taken first place in all classes bar one, James
then went on to be Champion with Rapid Bay – UK Reputation
Radiance and Reserve Champion with Rapid Bay – JJ Shiloh.
James had the Interbreed Champion with his Holstein cow. The
Young Handlers were judged on the second day of the show with
The Supreme Calf Championship taken by Emma Strachan ( James’s
wife)with Chloe Bolderstone winning the Any Other Breed Young
Handlers Championship for the second year running, well done
Chloe and keep up the good work.
Wednesday 15th June we visited
the Rushmer Family’s Jersey
Marshland Herd. This is a relatively new herd having started
in 2009, calves were bought from Bobby and Geraldine Roper
(just down the road) and also bulling heifers from the Loseley
herd in Guildford and cows from Sussex to put milk in the tank
for their first milk collection in July 2009. We had a very
good turnout of over 36 members and friends. We started off
with a small stock judging of a heifer class to judge. Helen
Reeve who works with Ralph Moore’s Jerseys was our Judge
and in first and third place were Alan and Edna Welham, Alan
used to work with the Bixley Herd of Holsteins and our second
place went to Graham Vale of the Oakalby Friesians. Better
luck next time Jersey Breeders!! We then walked down to view
the herd on the marshes who looked very well, it always amazes
me to see boats sailing along as though on grass, and nice
to see an old fashioned windmill. Our next thing to see was
the poultry unit of 30,000 hens, this had been going since
2007 after a difficult planning consent. They, the hens can
go out when they want and their eggs are collected twice a
week, but most of the collecting and putting on trays is all
automated, so very interesting. We had our picnics on the lawn
and were supplied with drinks and delicious cakes, so very
many thanks to the Rushmer Family for hosting our club visit.
It was lovely to see Sandra Dain even though she is still in
a wheelchair, seems to be on the mend but still a long haul
ahead of her before she is fully mobile.
At the Royal Norfolk
Show we had good numbers for the classes, and once again we
were delighted to see Barry, Jenny Daw and their daughter Clare
exhibiting. The Jersey classes were held after the Red
Polls as the Interbreed classes were to be held at 12.30pm
on the Wednesday, our Judge was James Waring from Beverley
,Yorkshire who put as Champion Jersey Barry and Jenny’s
Bluegrass Simbas Snow White, they also took the Reserve Champion
with Bluegrass Remakes Dream Girl. Our Jersey Young Handlers
did very well again as some of them had stubborn calves! But
it was good to see so many leading Jerseys and thank them all
for all their hard work in preparing their calves for showing,
hope to see you and maybe more next year.
Congratulations to
Clare Daw, Champion handler of the Any other Breed Champion,
Clare again took the Interbreed Young Handler for the second
year running which was a tremendous achievement.
The Jersey
Youth weekend on 19th -21st August was held at Pierrepont Trust
in Surrey, this is a modern farm with new buildings and robotic
milkers and is run by Mike and Beverley Clear and from all
accounts was a tremendous success, a good time was had by all!!
Norfolk was well represented, and congratulations to James
Bolderston for being the overall Stockman of the weekend, a
great achievement, Andrea Vale was the Senior Handler and Luke
Harris was the Senior Champion Clipper. Didn’t they
do well!
At the Society’s AGM held in August, we were
very pleased that our Upgate Lemvigs Melody took the Grosvenor
Berry Trophy for the second year running.
The Wayland Show,
Watton held at the beginning of August had Young Handlers classes
and I have it on good authority that the Jerseys were well
represented, Ben Etteridges homebred calf Moonshine Reagans
Java was the Young Handlers Champion calf. Congratulations.
Wow!
What a surprise when I opened my EDP today 30th August to find
a lovely photo of Andrew and Caroline and Michael and Laura,
and Jenny Bolderstone’s children holding their
respective calves for the Young Handlers classes at the Alysham
Show held on the Bank Holiday Monday. It was good to see so
many young handlers and well done all of you.
Tuesday 13th September
saw the committee having their last meeting of the year at
Jonathon and Ann Tomkinson. We discussed the dinner which is
to be at the Park hotel Diss on Thursday 20th October, the
menu was perused and all agreed it looked good, with any luck
the whole evening should be better than last year, as once
again Scole Inn has another new manager! I’ve lost count
how many there have been in the last few years. This year our
raffle will be for club funds “Charity
really does begin at home”!
We discussed Society Business,
not a great deal going on at this time of year, but we had
a very enjoyable and social morning with lovely sandwiches
for our lunch, and grateful thanks to all our hostess’ and
host for enabling us to have meetings in their homes. Our 2012
AGM will be in the evening at Nick and Sandra’s home,
hopefully this will encourage more members to attend and Sandra
has said she will provide sandwiches , we will have a small
charge to pay. This will be on Tuesday 24th April 2012 at 7.00.pm
We
have four new members which is brilliant, one of them Helen
Reeve who is herds woman for Ralph Moore’s Depwade herd
won the 2011 Growing Business Award with her herd of Red Dexters,
this was presented at the Royal Norfolk Show. She met her mentor
Ron Tuck of the Norwich based Giant Pet Store at the Norfolk
Young Farmers Club when he was President and he has continued
to help Helen through the years and said her success was thoroughly
deserved. He praised her being good in a crisis, they were
on their way by train to Westminster for the Royal Agricultural
Benevolent 150th event when he had a heart attack, Helen had
the train stopped and arranged for urgent medical attention
and Rod said she saved his life. We welcome Peter Tubby, Jonathan
Burridge, Helen Reeve and young Jack Debenham who is a very
keen and enthusiastic young handler and attended the Jersey
Youth Weekend which he thoroughly enjoyed and looks forward
to next year’s event.
We broke with tradition and instead
of our Dinner being held on a Friday had it on Thursday 20th
October, which was very well received. Fifty four members and
friends enjoyed a lovely meal and I had warned the Hotel we
were farmers and liked plenty! The carvery was excellent and
enough for people to go up for seconds if required! We were
made very welcome and there and then decided to book for the
following year on Thursday 18th October 2012. We made £81
for club funds and thank you to everyone for bringing raffle
prizes and buying tickets.
I would like to thank Nick and Glyn
for the lovely arrangement of fruit presented to me at the
dinner, beautifully done by Glyn’s daughter Kate, looked
too good to eat, but the next day was my granddaughters fifth
birthday and I think she thought it was for her! so we undid
it and enjoyed very much the contents with the rest of the
family.
Diary Dates:
AGM Tuesday 24th April at 7.00 pm at Nick and Sandra
Herd Visit to John and Zoe Cawston Poringland herd sometime
in June and hopefully on a Saturday so our youngsters will
be able to attend.
Dinner at the Park Hotel on Thursday 18th October.
Details will be sent out nearer these dates.
This comes with all good wishes for a healthy and more prosperous
year for 2012
History of the Club
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2010 Review
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